


Museum Of Broken Relationships

by maialec



Category: Mortal Instruments Series - Cassandra Clare, Shadowhunter Chronicles - All Media Types, Shadowhunter Chronicles - Cassandra Clare, Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Angst, Fluff and Angst, Happy Ending, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-02
Updated: 2016-07-02
Packaged: 2018-07-19 16:02:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,888
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7368187
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/maialec/pseuds/maialec
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He wanted to say that he had no idea what he was doing here, in a room full of memories that weren't his, of objects that reminded some of happier times and some of times they'd rather forget. But Alec knew why he was here. He'd been tired of moping around his sister's apartment, mourning the death of his relationship, hoping that by some kind of miracle everything would go back to how it used to be and he wouldn't feel so empty inside every time he moved.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Museum Of Broken Relationships

**Author's Note:**

> After watching a [Buzzfeed video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AvRmmWHNwqY) about [this museum](http://brokenships.tumblr.com/), I couldn't get this idea out of my head so I had to write it. All of the exhibits mentioned in this fic are real and can be found at the museum, except for the first one that I made up to fit the situation. Enjoy!

He wanted to say that he had no idea what he was doing here, in a room full of memories that weren't his, of objects that reminded some of happier times and some of times they'd rather forget. But Alec knew why he was here. He'd been tired of moping around his sister's apartment, mourning the death of his relationship, hoping that by some kind of miracle everything would go back to how it used to be and he wouldn't feel so empty inside every time he moved.

It had been almost three weeks since The Argument, when insults with no meaning were thrown, doors were slammed and hearts were broken, with very little chance of the pieces being picked up and glued back together. It had been a time during which he'd stopped feeling like himself, contrary to what most people say you should feel like when you've just got out of a relationship. He wasn't whole and he knew he wouldn't be, because he didn't give up on any part of himself while being with Magnus. It had been _him_ who helped Alec be the best version of himself, and he was feeling the withdrawals more and more every day. Magnus had been his first real love, so strong it was overwhelming at times, a love that he had always been afraid of. Maybe it had been this fear that prevented him from living and loving wholeheartedly, that ended it too soon. The fear of not being good enough, experienced enough, of simply not being _enough_ , in spite of Magnus telling him otherwise.

So now he found himself haunting the halls of the so-called Museum of Broken Relationships, in the hopes that he would find some closure through strangers' stories while trying to forget his own. Walking around aimlessly, he stumbled upon a glass jar with a light blue ribbon adorning its lid. The note accompanying it read:

_'It was a Sunday afternoon like any other. We were tangled in the sheets, none of us willing to move. She was drawing absentmindedly with her fingers on my back while the blinding sun kept my eyes from opening. That's when an idea crossed my mind and I rose from the bed, picking up the mason jar from the night stand. I opened it, waved it around and then closed it back up. She asked me what I was doing and I told her 'I want to preserve this moment, I want to remember us just as we are right now in this bubble of light and sleep.' She giggled and kissed my nose. After we broke up, I was surprised to find it in the back of our (soon to be only her) closet and I took it with me while packing my stuff. It looked just as empty as I felt, the warmth I'd tried to capture long gone, just like the warmth in my heart.'_

 

***

 

_Feather-like touches along his thigh paired with butterfly kisses from his nape all the way down to his shoulder and his upper arm met halfway on his hip, before the soft hand ghosting over his leg seconds before flipped him over so he was lying on his back. A pair of strong thighs circled his hips as he was finally met with Magnus's face bathed in the warm afternoon light, and Alec was sure his own had the dopiest smile plastered all over it. He started giving Magnus's arms the same treatment, absentmindedly tracing a path up to his shoulder blades and then down his chest, before resting on his thighs. The sun rays slipping through the blinds danced along the side of his lover's face, illuminating his tan skin with an ethereal glow._

_Magnus leaned in and their lips barely touched in a kiss so delicate it was as if they didn’t want to break this secluded bubble they were in. However soft it was, the kiss held so much affection Alec feared his heart would burst from all the love he felt for this man._

_He now wished he'd had a jar. He would have sealed within it the shimmering rays of light, the warm summer air and Magnus's contagious giggles as he'd flipped them both over and tickled his sides, sharing endless lazy kisses until the sun went down._

 

***

 

To his surprise, Alec found that the exhibits in this museum told stories of more than just romantic relationships. He saw a Peter Pan plush toy that symbolized the ending of a man's connection with his youth; the note next to it read, among other things, a simple _'I grew up'_. Another example were two porcelain frogs, one smaller than the other, embracing: _'Mom left when I was 3. This is one of the few Christmas gifts she has given me.'_ and Alec felt a small pang in his chest at that.

After a few more minutes of wandering around, he saw a yellow post-it note: _'I'm sorry you're having a crazy day. I'm looking forward to 5 o'clock when I can come home and take care of you. I love you so much! Be prepared for lots of kisses! XOXO,'_ and the name of the author had been scribbled with a black sharpie.

 

***

 

_The loud chirping noises outside brought Alec back from the dream world and he groaned from the discomfort of opening his eyes to the bright morning sun. He shuffled around in the bed, turning away from the blinding light, and outstretched his arm to what he was expecting to be Magnus's body next to him. When he felt nothing but crumpled sheets, he furrowed his brows in confusion. After rubbing the sleep away from his eyes, he was able to make out a piece of paper on the empty pillow. Accepting the fact that he wouldn't be going back to sleep any time soon, he got up into a half-sitting position and read the note._

_'Was called in for an urgent situation at work. I'm really sorry, but I'm gonna make it up to you when I get home. If only I knew when that is... Love you! - Magnus'_

_Alec didn't know if he should sigh in disappointment or amusement at his boyfriend's note. Today should have been one of the rare times both of them had a day off and he was looking forward to spending it in, doing absolutely nothing but enjoying each other's presence. Of course something would come up; it was the dark irony of his life. Still, he couldn't blame Magnus as his own job was quite unpredictable at times. He resigned and got out of bed quietly, heading for the kitchen to make himself breakfast._

_What he found on the kitchen counter as he walked in was a silver lid with another post-it note attached to it. He rolled his eyes with fondness as he read it: 'Okay, maybe I wanted to make it up to you a bit sooner. Enjoy <3 - Magnus'._

_He lifted the lid and underneath it was a plate of his favorite, banana pancakes. He then looked at the coffee maker and saw that it had already been used, earning him a satisfied groan when he poured the content into his mug and sipped. Magnus made the best coffee he'd ever tasted in his life. After breakfast, he decided he might as well get some extra paperwork done since his plans had been compromised._

_When he heard the front door unlock a few hours later, he rushed to it like a child on Christmas morning. He wasted no time and embraced Magnus before planting a kiss on his cheek._

_'You're home early,' he hummed cheerfully._

_'Early? I wasn't even supposed to leave the house today and yet they couldn't solve a basic problem without me,' Magnus said in an irritated voice as he hung up his coat and took off his shoes._

_'I was preparing for the worst. I thought you'd be held up all day.'_

_'Oh, believe me, they would have loved to! But I put my foot down and told them this is my day off and they can manage without my assistance,' he ended his rant and looked up at Alec, a smile on his face. 'I missed you.' He put his arms around his waist and kissed him._

_'I missed you too. The breakfast was delicious,' he smiled as he felt Magnus's hands trail up his bare back, lifting his shirt up._

_'If you thought that was delicious, wait until you see what I have in store for us,' he said with a devilish smirk as he kissed down Alec's jaw and neck._

_They didn't leave their bed until the morning._

 

***

 

A heap of what looked like molten metal was another artifact that caught his eye. It didn't have a story, just a short lighthearted description: _'Cell phone melted in the oven (to stop incoming texts, perhaps)'_ , but the memory it triggered wasn't so lighthearted.

 

***

 

_Nerves and anxiety seeped into his bones with every breath and he wanted to tear off his skin to stop the tingling sensation. It was nearing 2 a.m. and he still hadn't heard from Magnus since he left for work that day. It wasn't like him to be late and not call in to say so, although 'being late' was putting it very lightly at this point. Alec had called him exactly three times since 11 p.m. and he was sent to the voice mail every time. He feared the worst and he was a step away from calling every hospital in the city to see if they didn't receive an unidentified lifeless body that he might know something about when his cell phone started ringing. He exhaled audibly when he saw Magnus's caller ID on the screen._

_'Magnus, where the hell are you? And why aren't you picking up your phone?' Alec all but yelled into the speaker._

_'Oh, yes, I saw your messages,' he had the nerve to sound nonchalant. 'It was Raphael's birthday and he asked us out for drinks and I guess I must have lost track of time,' he chuckled. Alec's emotions went from anxiety to full on rage._

_'You lost track of time? It's 2 a.m.! I thought you were dead in a ditch somewhere!' He was trying his best not to overreact, but it proved difficult._

_'Alexander, I'm a grown man, I can take care of myself. I wouldn't have gone out if I knew you would react like this,' Magnus said, still oblivious to his actions._

_'I'm not keeping you away from celebrating your friend's birthday, but you owe me a phone call at the least, for God's sake!'_

_He heard Magnus chuckle again and he ended the call before he could say anything else that could make his blood boil anymore than it already was. He needed to throw something and, since his phone was already in his hand, he propelled it to the far end of the room. He heard a smashing sound, but he didn't check to see the damage, resuming his attempts at calming down. This, Alec thought in retrospect, was when it all started._

 

***

 

As if that flashback hadn't already left a bad taste in his mouth, what he came across next brought back a memory he'd been trying to forget for weeks, to no avail. A blue axe that looked perfectly new, save for the faint corrosion on its blade, was hung up on the wall. The story of its owner was as predictable as it was devastating. After living together with her partner for a few months, she left to travel for three weeks, but returned to find her girlfriend had fallen in love with someone else and was going on vacation alone.

_'In the 14 days of her holiday, every day I axed one piece of her furniture. I kept the remains there, as an expression of my inner condition. The more her room filled with chopped furniture acquiring the look of my soul, the better I felt. Two weeks after she left, she came back for the furniture. It was neatly arranged into small heaps and fragments of wood. She took that trash and left my apartment for good. The axe was promoted to a therapy instrument.'_

 

***

 

_A cloud of negative energy overcame him, something uglier than just the stress gathered up from the hectic day he'd had at work. He was angry, but not at Magnus. He was angry at himself, and because of that he was now lashing out at his boyfriend, unable to stop for no apparent reason. That, combined with the months of self doubt hanging constantly over his head and the palpable tension between the two of them in the past weeks, resulted in the biggest fight they'd ever had and, as Alec was soon to find out, they would ever have. He felt it; the end. It was looming over the both of them and, in that moment, there was nothing more he could do to prevent it. The loud bang of the bedroom door being shut could be heard behind them as Magnus followed him to the living room._

_'Why are you so willing to pick a fight over the smallest thing?' Magnus asked in an exasperated voice and, as much as he wished, Alec didn't have an answer._

_'You should have thought about this before you decided to be with me,' Alec's brain supplied in the end._

_'You weren't like this before,' Magnus got more and more desperate to get answers that Alec, for some reason, just wasn't willing to give._

_'That's the problem though, isn't it? I've always been like this! Not involved enough, not good enough, not enough, but you just refused to see it!'_

_'Oh, don't give me that 'it's not you, it's me' crap! You and me both know it's not about that! It's never been about that,' he raised his voice. Alec had never seen him act this way._

_'You should've realized that you deserve better! You deserve something that I can't give you!' Alec was the desperate one now. Magnus looked speechless at that and, frankly, who could blame him? He opened and closed his mouth a few times, thinking of something to say._

_'If you want to break up with me so badly, just say it. Don't blame it on what you seem to believe I want,' he finally said. After a painfully long silence, Alec's response was barely audible._

_'Maybe it's for the bes-,' his voice cracked at the last syllable and gave away the lump that had been forming in his throat since they started fighting. Magnus wasn't looking at him anymore, instead focusing all of his attention on a distant spot behind Alec. When he spoke, it was a drained whisper._

_'As you wish,' he refused to blink, fearing tears might spill out._

_Alec nodded, not quite believing what had just happened, but too shaken up to go back on his words. He was functioning on pure adrenaline at that point and it was visible in his hasty retreat, as he headed for the front door and slammed it behind him, wishing he'd had an axe to tear it down with._

 

***

 

Walking among old wedding gowns, garden dwarves, photographs and love letters long forgotten, something caught Alec's eye. It was a little stuffed mouse on a string, wearing a black suit with a red rose barely hanging on to its chest and the description _'He lacked courage, just like a mouse, so it couldn't last!'_ next to the artifact. He felt a rush of sadness overcome him and he had to fight the tears threatening to spill out. He wasn't expecting to get so emotional over a stuffed animal and yet here he was, unable to look away from its beady eyes that seemed filled with remorse. This damned toy showed him the reason why his relationship had crumbled.

He had been a mouse, giving into his fear of loving and being loved, of hurting and being hurt, until he couldn't take it anymore and decided for Magnus that he deserved better than a lost boy scared of commitment. Despite Magnus's constant reassurance and support, he had been too insecure to listen and felt he hadn't been ready for a relationship this serious. And yet, the moments they'd spent together proved him wrong time and time again. Relationships take a lot of work, he knew that from the start, and he'd done his best to keep it together, they both had. Every date they went on, every kiss they shared, every moment they encouraged and stuck through thick and thin with each other showed him that their efforts would pay off. So why had he been stupid enough to cause its ending, after all the work they'd put into making it better every day? A year's worth of building now in ruins because of a stupid fit of rage, caused by nothing but stress and exhaustion. In the moment he thought he would feel better, but he didn't, and he had a feeling he wouldn't ever feel better.

'It reminded me of you.'

He was startled out of his thoughts by a familiar voice behind him. He turned around and there was Magnus. Nothing could have prepared Alec for seeing him for the first time since their breakup. He'd thought he would never forget Magnus's face and yet, looking at him now, he realized it was more pale than he remembered it. The eyes that were always smiling when looking at Alec, now looked full of sorrow, most likely mirroring Alec's own. Tracing his features, he noticed Magnus was not wearing any makeup, like he often would, except for a bit of smudged eyeliner that seemed to have been applied the day before. His hair was also down, no colored highlights, a look Alec had seen countless times when they were staying in all day or when they were getting ready for bed. He didn't want to think he was the cause of Magnus's appearance, partly because he found it hard to believe their breakup would have such an effect on Magnus, and partly because this is what he always feared, that he would hurt him.

'You're the last person I was expecting to meet here,' Alec responded.

'I wanted to get some fresh air, when I came across this museum and it sounded so ironic I had to go in,' Magnus said with a smile that didn't reach his eyes. 'I could say the same thing about you.'

'Yeah, I guess that's how I found myself here too,' he chuckled nervously, looking away.

A silence fell between them during which neither of them knew what to say. What _do_ they say after not speaking to or seeing each other for so long? When their last interaction had been so destructive and so full of negative emotions, interaction that Alec has been replaying in his head over and over again trying to think of something, anything he could have said to change the outcome.

'I miss you,' he eventually blurted out. Magnus was visibly taken aback by Alec's confession, if the look on his face was anything to go by. His eyebrows furrowed and his mouth was curved downwards. He looked almost regretful.

'Alexander,' he sighed and Alec felt a pang in his heart all over again. He hadn't heard his full name in a long time, let alone said like that, like only Magnus could, pouring into it so much pain and affection all at once. Alec was longing for him even more now that he was closer than he had been these past couple of weeks, and yet he couldn't reach out and touch him. He didn't think he deserved it anymore.

'I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that, I-I don't know what-'

'I miss you too,' Magnus eventually said, the smile now back on his face, and this time it seemed to reach his eyes as well.

'Y-you do?' Alec asked dumbfounded.

'Of course I do,' Magnus sounded almost offended. 'Every day.'

'Ever since...' Alec started, but couldn't finish. He cleared his throat and tried again. 'I've been replaying it in my head, trying to think of what I said, of what I could have said to make it better and, uh,' he took a deep breath and looked up, trying to fight the tears forming behind his eyes, 'I was so dumb and I'm so sorry, I thought I was helping the both of us, but obviously I wasn't and I've regretted it ever since, I'm sorry,' he exhaled deeply and realized he'd kept his eyes shut during the entire confession. When he opened them, he saw Magnus's eyes were wet with tears that were yet to be shed.

'I shouldn't have let you go so easily, I'm sorry,' Magnus said after a while. 'I thought it was what you wanted. I thought it would make you happy,' he added, searching for Alec's gaze.

'I guess we were so busy thinking about what would be best for the other we didn't stop to think about what _we_ wanted,' Alec laughed and Magnus followed his lead.

'I guess so,' he beamed, actually _beamed_ and Alec forgot how much he missed seeing Magnus's genuine smile whenever he looked at him. Alec could kiss that smile right off his face, but he couldn’t. He just wanted to enjoy it for a little while longer.

Just as he was thinking that, he felt soft fingers brush over his hand and Magnus looked at him as if asking if this is okay. It was more than okay, and Alec couldn't help the smile on his face.

'I know it's too soon, but... can I kiss you?' Alec asked, already expecting to have his hopes crushed. To his surprise, Magnus's lips curved into a smirk.

'You can try,' he said before leaning in and meeting Alec halfway.

When their lips touched, it felt like a cold breeze on a scorching summer day, like throwing yourself on a soft mattress after working for hours or like being curled up next to a fireplace during a snow storm. It was like coming home. It was familiar and yet completely new. It was full of promise and commitment that Alec was not afraid of anymore. It was soft and tentative, while also being desperate and hungry. It was the first and the hundredth at the same time. When they pulled apart, they both couldn't stop smiling, too busy basking in the bliss of their reconciliation to notice the few people in the museum looking at them with fondness, some even clapping quietly. It was Magnus who spoke first.

'Maybe we should get out of here. Grab a coffee. Talk,' his eyes turned serious, but his smile stayed in place.

'Yeah,' Alec nodded, 'yeah, we should do that.'

Magnus was right, they had a lot to talk about. The issue wasn't yet solved and they would have to work it through, but this time Alec wasn't backing down. He was tired of letting fear cloud his judgment. This time he would stay, because he knew it was worth it.

Who would have thought a museum commemorating broken relationships would bring them back together?

**Author's Note:**

> So this is like total fairy tale scenario, I am aware, but I couldn't resist giving it a happy ending. Thank you for reading! Comments and constructive criticism are more than welcome! You can also find me on [tumblr](http://maialec.tumblr.com/) <3


End file.
